No Time to Waste

A Report from the Hevare Family in Papaua New Guinea

It was all smiles for the Hevare family to leave Popondetta to catch a passenger ship and travel back to Kainantu after two months of being away from home. It seems that this family has been on a suicide mission to take the everlasting gospel to the world. They have travelled all over with only a couple of days at home between trips. Here are a few stories from their travels.

In the second week of March of 2009, the Hevare Family Ministry left their home in Kainantu in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea for Popondetta in the Northern Province.

On the way, the family passed through Lae City in Morobe Province. While passing through, the family decided to spend a few days and conduct an evangelistic campaign in the streets in Lae before traveling on to Popondetta.

The family targeted the busy Eruku shopping center for the program for the first week. Child-Evangelist Brett Henry joined them there and preached on the prophecies in Daniel chapter 7 and Revelation chapters 13, 14 and 17. The Havare Family Choir sang beautiful inspirational songs for all of the programs. With God’s blessings, this family had developed a reputation in Lae City as they had visited Lae City to give the final call of mercy. Their music attracted many to come listen.

News of the meetings and the singing spread all over the city. From the very first day, the city folk flocked by the thousands to receive the final warning message. It was amazing to watch. It was like a well-organized evangelistic meeting. A steady crowd of thousands would stand and wait for the family to arrive to conduct the meeting each day. This crowd was not comprised of members of our faith, but they came from all sorts of religious background.

After the approximately two-hour presentation, the folks would not be satisfied and would request more. As they said the message presented was “too sweet to be satisfied.”

The power that attends the messages presented here continues to increase. Fellow brethren, the glory of the fourth Angel is already beginning to enlighten the earth. “The solemn, sacred message of warning must be proclaimed in the most difficult fields and in the most sinful cities, in every place where the light of the great threefold gospel message ha

s not yet dawned. Everyone is to hear the last call to the marriage supper of the Lamb. From town to town, from city to city, from country to country, the message of present truth is to be proclaimed, not with outward display, but in the power of the Spirit.” Gospel Workers, 27.

After one week in Eruku suburb, the family moved to Kamkumu market in Lae City for two days before they left for Popondetta.

When the family presented the present truth in Eruku, the people just pressed in on the family as a result of people rushing to occupy a space to sit or stand and receive the message.

What we see happening here is the evidence that it is time for us to go home to our eternal home.

But having said that we should not forget that we have a work to accomplish and also many troublesome times ahead of us to overcome.

As Sister White states, “God’s people should be preparing for what is to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.” Child Guidance, 555.

“The ‘time of trouble, such as never was,’ is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal.” Great Controversy, 622. The message for us at this time is that we have no time to waste.

Once the Hevare family arrived in Popondetta, they immediately set to work. They resided with Brother Francis Kaura for a week and conducted a street evangelistic campaign during the week in the streets of Popondetta.

They began on a Sunday morning. Normally on Sundays the streets of Popondetta are empty as the businesses close on this day. They still were able to attract a large crowd. The folks coming to the market that day stood for quite a while to hear the message.

Among the people who approached the family for further discussions after the program was a young man from Musa region (a remote part of Northern Province, Papua New Guinea). This man, by the name of Cecil, asked the family to travel with him to his village. He said that he wanted this message to go to his people. The Hevares agreed and made arrangements to travel with Brother Cecil to his village after the one-week street evangelistic campaign in Popondetta town.

On Monday, the family moved to the center of Popondetta town and continued to conduct a street evangelistic campaign at this spot for one week. After the first and the second outreach program, the news spread all over the Northern Province and people flocked in to receive the final warning message.

By the end of the program a total of sixteen cartons of tracks had been distributed.  During one of the street outreach campaigns, an old man appeared to be very frustrated with the Hevare family and told the audience “This little child you see preaching—it is his father who is using him like a remote control. I made the people in Chimbu Province to assault this family, but they are continuing with this nonsense.”

This was strange because nobody in Popondetta knows about the persecution the family went through in Chimbu Province three weeks before they traveled to Popondetta. Obviously it was the devil that came in a form of a human being to express his frustration.

One of the other areas that the Hevares visited was the Musa Region. This ended up being one of the most difficult of their recent missionary trips.

Not knowing the difficulties the family would face on the way to Musa region and the achievements that awaited them, the family left Ponpondetta Town with brothers Cecil and Francis Kaura on Wednesday. They got on a Public Motor Vehicle (PMV) and the vehicle dropped them off at Pokani. The team that traveled consisted of brothers Francis Kaura and Cecil (from Popondetta), Henry, Max, Timothy, Brett, Misiriko, Phil and Edward (a family from Kainantu).

When the PMV dropped the team off at Pokani it was late in the afternoon.

They decided to spend the night there in Pokani.

The next day Francis Kaura became ill and so returned to Popondetta. The rest of the team left early and crossed the Pokani River for Balegi Village, where they planned to spend the night. They didn’t have any food with them. The walk from Pokani to Balegi Village took an entire day. That is a long walk and especially for eight-year-old Edward, who was the first person to have troubles. His legs began to swell and he limped and had to use a walking stick to assist his walking. This happened after completing about the first quarter of the trip. His troubles meant that they would have to decrease their walking rate as well as carry some of Edward’s load. But the Lord worked it out and took care of little Edward. The meetings held in Balegi were again a wonderful blessing, and many, many listened to the importance of choosing to obey Jesus now.

Finally after several weeks spent in several different villages, the family headed back to Popondetta Town. On their way, they passed through a village called Malase. The folks in Malase Village recognized the family as they had seen them conduct the outreach programs in Popondetta Town. The people had already heard stories of this family ministry and they begged the family to stay in their village and conduct a one-week crusade. So again the Hevare family set up their tent, and prepared for another weeklong crusade.

Our good Lord continued to work miracles and the present truth broke through in Malase Village. During the week the pastor of one of the local churches admitted that the message presented by the Hevare family was truth and took his family to the meeting. This family joined the new interests in the village and worshipped God for the first time on the Sabbath day.

During the week, the chief of Malase Village made many good comments and said that the message presented by the family is truth and he encouraged his tribe’s men to accept the message.

The folks in Malase have accepted present truth and are now worshiping and keeping the Sabbath. The people are planning to build a new church in this village.

Our brothers in Malase come from Sunday worshiping backgrounds and they urgently need a full-time missionary. Thank God—Moyo Usake who is a lay missionary in Omaura district in Eastern Highlands Province has made himself available for this call.

The folks in Malase also urgently need Bibles and Spirit of Prophecy books. We need your support with this important literature to equip these precious souls in Malase with the truth.

After a month in the remote part of Northern Province the Hevare family finally left for Popondetta town being satisfied with their achievements. They have established four home churches (with a fifth one in the works) in four weeks. The harvest truly is ready.

By Henry Hevare. Papua New Guinea.